MEDIA MATTERS

New ad portrays Obama printing fiat currency

Policy reversal allows 'The Wizards of Oz' to air

Jerome R. Corsi, a Harvard Ph.D., is a WND senior staff writer. He has authored many books, including No. 1 N.Y. Times best-sellers "The Obama Nation" and "Unfit for Command." Corsi's latest book is "Partners in Crime."

The network will air an ad titled “The Wizards of Oz” – one of two previously rejected by the network – in which the Obama and Bernanke characters engage in a potentially inflationary policy of printing paper money with abandon to stimulate the struggling economy.

An animation of singer Pat Boone, who has been a Swiss America spokesman for 15 years, also appears in the two commercials. Boone concludes the ads with the suggestion that investing in gold is a prudent strategy to diversify an investment portfolio in inflationary times.

Swiss America is a national investment firm specializing in U.S. gold and silver coins

Since being posted on You Tube on Nov. 30, 2011, following the initial rejection by the Fox News Channel and Fox Business, “The Wizards of Oz” has been watched by more than 48,700 viewers, with a favorable viewer rating of 200 to 6.

The “Wizards of Oz” spot will air nationally this week during the Fox Business Network’s “Freedom Watch with Judge Napolitano,” which begins at 8 p.m. Eastern Time.

Still not accepted is an ad titled “Inflatrocracy” that shows Obama and Bernanke as animated characters flying in a balloon from which they drop fiat currency dollars printed by the Federal Reserve.

More than 60,600 viewers have watched “Inflatrocracy,” also posted on YouTube on Nov. 30, 2011, with a favorable viewer rating of 206 to 11.

“The goal was not to make a political statement,” Swiss America CEO Craig Smith told WND, “but to take what we thought was a humorous approach to a timely and important economic topic in order to advertise our company and promote a new book we’ve recently published.”

The two television commercials were rejected last November by NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, ABC, CBS, Fox News, Fox Business, CNN/HLN and the Discovery Channel.

Smith told WND the strong 40-to-1 approval rating achieved by the two commercials on YouTube may have played a role in gaining acceptance for “The Wizards of Oz” on Fox Business.

Comcast, in rejecting the spot, told Swiss America that it “does not meet our standards on public symbol.”

Comcast’s Public Symbol Policy specifies, “The use of the name or likeness of the President of the United States and/or the Presidential Seal for endorsing commercial purposes must be authorized by the White House.”

Fox News said, “The representation of public figures is something we try to avoid.”

CNN/HLN told Swiss America the commercials were “not appropriate for the current political landscape.”

“The networks’ reaction shocked me,” Smith said. “It’s a threat to First Amendment rights when a commercial message is rejected not because it is inaccurate or misleading, but because it makes what is perceived to be a political statement the networks want to avoid.”

Smith told WND he was concerned that the networks appear to be protecting Obama and Bernanke by blocking Swiss America’s commercials.

“All we are saying in these two commercials is what dozens of responsible professional economists are saying everyday,” Smith noted. “Gold investment is a responsible diversification strategy when governments print fiat currencies with abandon and risk unleashing inflationary principles.”

Last November, only Google TV accepted the commercials, for broadcast via satellite on the DISH Network and Direct-TV networks into 33 million U.S. homes.

Google TV ran the ads for two weeks in December and will run them again next month.

The ads actually will air nationally via Google TV on many of the major news networks that have refused to air them.

So, for example, while cable subscribers to Fox News, CNN/HLN and others will not see the Swiss America commercials, those watching the networks on the DISH Network or Direct-TV will see them.

“The silver lining,” says Smith “is that many of the television and cable networks who told us ‘no’ have come back saying ‘yes’ to Google TV, which began broadcasting the two commercials on Dec. 5, 2011. We are very thankful to Google TV for helping us keep free speech alive on the television airwaves.”

In June, Smith and co-author Lowell Ponte published “The Inflation Deception: Six Ways Government Trucks Us … and Seven Ways to Stop It!” in a paperback edition.

“Welcome to the ‘inflatocracy’ – our new form of government of, by, and for inflation – in which deliberately debasing our money has become a tool of mind manipulation, wealth distribution, and secret taxation,” the publicity for the book on Amazon.com reads.

The first Swiss America commercial, seen below, evokes imagery from “The Wizard of Oz” to portray Bernanke and Obama as “financial wizards” hiding as “the men behind the door” in an inflationary scheme to solve economic problems by printing money.

The second ad, below, plays off the theme “Helicopter Ben,” a nickname Wall Street has conferred upon Bernanke, playing off his reputation to “helicopter in” to financial crises and dump money on a problem.

Ray Griggs, the producer of the 2010 feature film documentary “I Want Your Money,” a critical examination of the Obama administration’s economic policies, produced the commercials.